The 5 Areas of Self-Care + Examples

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I wanna talk about self-care today! 💜

I read a blog post recently talking about how certain things, like getting enough sleep or eating enough food, shouldn’t be considered self-care. The post said that instead, these things should be considered things that we should always do.

Reading this frustrated me because that’s exactly what self-care IS – things that we should always do.

As someone who struggles with mental illness, eating can be hard sometimes. Getting enough sleep can be hard sometimes. Things that seem like no-brainers to some people are things that others have to make a conscious effort to do.

The definition of self-care is “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.”

So obviously, self-care is not just getting a massage or painting your nails. Self-care includes ANYTHING that you do to keep yourself healthy – both physically and mentally.

I know that it’s 2022 and self-care isn’t a new concept, but reading blog posts like that made me realize that there are STILL so many misconceptions about self-care. So today, I wanted to dive deeper into the topic and the different areas of self-care.

I want to talk about the 5 areas of self-care and examples of how to improve each of them!

1. Physical self-care

Physical self-care is probably the most talked-about of all the areas of self-care. It’s just what it sounds like: taking care of your physical health and your body. We only get one body and it’s important that we’re taking care of it as best as we can!

Examples of physical self-care:

Drinking enough water
Exercising
Eating (mostly) healthy food
Taking proper care of your hygiene
Having good sleeping habits

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2. Emotional self-care

Emotional self-care is another important area. This involves several different aspects. It means acknowledging your emotions, allowing yourself to feel them with no judgment, and exploring where they stem from. It also involves deepening your understanding of both your emotions and yourself. Tune into how you’re feeling and face difficult emotions like fear, stress, anger, hurt, etc.

Examples of emotional self-care:

Allowing yourself to cry when you need to
Journaling
Speaking to a professional about your feelings
Tracking your mood
Reciting positive affirmations

You might like: 35 Morning Affirmations to Start Your Day Right

3. Intellectual self-care

Intellectual self-care involves anything that stimulates your mind. This includes learning and self-improvement topics. Intellectual self-care is often overlooked but it’s an important part of a balanced life!

Examples of intellectual self-care:

Setting and working toward goals
Reading
Learning a new skill or about a new topic
Visiting a museum or art gallery
Doing puzzles, crosswords, sudoku, etc

You might like: 8 Steps for Setting + Achieving SMART Goals

4. Social self-care

Social self-care is about exactly what it sounds like: your social life. Connections are important and it’s always good to have people you can lean on, whether it’s family or friends, or both.

Examples of social self-care:

Make friends at work
Join a group or club
Reach out to family/friends
Start a conversation with a neighbor
Volunteer

You might like: Making a Difference with Random Acts of Kindness

5. Spiritual self-care

Spiritual self-care doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with religion – although it can. It involves your values, your core beliefs, and connecting with something beyond yourself.

Examples of spiritual self-care: